What Do You Know About Historic Palestine?                 


   * Forced displacement of 750,000 people

	In 1947 and 1948, Palestinians were forcibly 
	expelled from their homes in a wave of terrorist 
	attacks by armed Zionist paramilitary groups, 
	whose goal was to establish the Israeli state.
	These attacks included the infamous massacre in 
	Deir Yassin, where 250 men, women, and children
	were killed. Such attacks forced more than 
	750,000 Palestinians from their homes in more 
	than 400 villages to allow for the creation of 
	Israel on May 14, 1948.

	This choice -- to colonize a land already 
	inhabited -- meant abandoning the legitimate 
	struggle for justice for the Jewish people in 
	their home countries.
	
	The gross injustice inherent in Israel's creation 
	and continued existence cannot be allowed to 
	stand.  For decades, the U.S. government has 
	funded Israel with over $4 billion annually -- 
	much of it military aid to support an internationally 
	denounced military occupation that subjugates 
	the expelled Palestinians. As U.S. taxpayers, 
	we have a crucial role in demanding that our 
	government end all military, economic, and 
	political support to the colonial-settler state 
	of Israel.


   * Historic Palestine is the key

	The only just solution is the establishment of 
	a unified and democratic state of Palestine 
	that includes all of Historic Palestine (most of 
	which is today called Israel). This State would 
	be populated by the displaced Palestinians and 
	their diaspora and be open to people of all religions, 
	races, and ethnicities, including Jewish people.

	The "two-state solution" legitimizes the colonization 
	of Palestine and the existence of a state founded
	on the forced displacement of another people. It 
	requires that the history of Israel's creation, the 
	plight of the indigenous people, and what existed 
	before be erased and forgotten. It is unjust and 
	will not bring peace.

	A unified and democratic Palestine would recognize 
	the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to 
	full self-determination and the right of all 
	Palestinian refugees to return to and repossess their 
	original homes and lands. It is the only legitimate 
	basis for peace and justice.


   * The New England Committee to Defend Palestine

	We are people who have come together to defend the 
	Palestinian people's right to return to Historic 	
	Palestine. We express our complete and unconditional 
	solidarity with the Palestinian resistance. It is not 
	our place to dictate the forms of struggle to be 	
	adopted by the Palestinians.

	We believe that the creation of Israel was a 	
	fundamental injustice, and so we support a unified, 	
	and democratic Palestine. We oppose all U.S. 
	military, economic, and political aid to Israel.

	We educate and take political action: we speak to 
	groups that want to learn about the history of 	
	Palestine; and we build public demonstrations to 	
	highlight the need to end all U.S. support for Israel.

	Join us and work for justice in Palestine.


	   New England Committee to Defend Palestine
	 www.onepalestine.org | necdp@onepalestine.org

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